


every step of the way

by cap_n_port



Category: Les Schtroumpfs | The Smurfs
Genre: Friendship/Love, Growing Up Together, M/M, Teen Crush, not explicitly romantic but you could see it as that and theres a scene with a crush so
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-18
Updated: 2020-07-17
Packaged: 2021-03-05 07:20:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 1,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25346863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cap_n_port/pseuds/cap_n_port
Summary: a story of two smurfs growing up side by side
Relationships: Schtroumpf à Lunettes & Schtroumpf Maladroit | Brainy Smurf & Clumsy Smurf, Schtroumpf à Lunettes/Schtroumpf Maladroit | Brainy Smurf/Clumsy Smurf
Comments: 4
Kudos: 29





	1. Infants/Toddlers

In late April, when the final child is delivered, Little Clumsy is asleep.

For infants, they're shockingly similar- Clumsy hadn't said any actual words at his first word ceremony, simply tumbling off the moonlit stump and going "oops!", so Papa is worried he may be developmentally delayed; and Little Brainy will get that same worry in a few days when Papa realizes this young child barely reacts to anything, except to burst into tears when he bumps into something. (Everysmurf will realize decades later that Brainy is blind.)

But the next day, when the babies are playing, Clumsy trips over Brainy, causing the younger smurfling to cry. In an attempt to cheer him up, Clumsy gives Brainy his favorite plushie. Neither of them will remember this, and an adult Brainy isn't sure why he keeps a ragged old toy around.

* * *

They don't interact much as toddlers. Brainy gets his glasses, and Clumsy is mostly sheltered as Papa tries to figure out what's wrong with him. Once Brainy learns to read, the first smurfling to do so, he becomes a know-it-all. Clumsy, meanwhile, can't tell his As from his Zs. The two of them have nothing in common.


	2. Children

Many of the little smurflings have their favorite games, especially when Papa Smurf isn't around. Shut Brainy Up is a popular one. It's fun for the older smurflings to steal the youngest one's glasses and toss them around; and to hit him on the head with mallets and hammers and any blunt objects they find.

"I'm telling Papa Smurf!" Brainy always says, and he does. But when he says, "Papa, Hefty hit me!" Papa Smurf will say,

"They're just roughhousing, Brainy." He expects his little smurfs to cry when they get hurt, but Brainy's learned not to cry. It makes him feel pathetic and powerless. Since Brainy doesn't cry, Papa Smurf doesn't worry. "Are you bleeding?" He'll ask. And Brainy will say no, because all he has are bruises, which he hides under his hat.

Little Clumsy is taken extra good care of by Papa Smurf, who worries about him. He's always covered in bruises and cuts and bandages, and when he stumbles into the area, the other smurflings will give Brainy back his glasses, or hide their weapons, and stop bullying him. Since Clumsy gets into so much danger, Papa Smurf will listen to him. If Clumsy tells Papa the others are being mean to Brainy, Papa will listen to him. They'll get in trouble.

Brainy recognizes this, so one day he saunters up to Clumsy, with all the innocent confidence of an elementary-school child. He drapes an arm over Clumsy's shoulder.

"Clumsy Smurfling!" He declares. He's always had a flair for the dramatic. "I have decided to smurf you the honor of being my friend."

"Uh," Clumsy says. "I dunno what yer talkin' about."

Brainy sighs. "Do you wanna be friends?" He asks.

Clumsy's face lights up in a grin. His two front teeth were missing- they'd been loose until he'd hit his head and knocked them out of his mouth the day before. "Golly, sure! Do ya like worms?"

Now it's Brainy's turn to be confused. "Uh... I guess?"

"Look!" Clumsy smiles at Brainy and opens up his cupped hands. A little earthworm wriggles around. "I found 'im while lookin' fer rocks! I named 'im Wormy, 'cuz 'e's a worm."

Brainy gasps. "That's so cool! Did you know, worms don't have eyes?"

"Gosh, fer real?"

"Yeah!" Brainy rambles on, random facts about earthworms he had learned in books, and Clumsy's happy to listen. They talked and laughed until Papa Smurf called all the little smurflings in for dinner. They quickly became real friends. While Clumsy made others, his first and best friend was always Brainy.


	3. Adolescent

One June morning, Brainy wakes up late. He fumbles to grab his glasses from his bedside table, and changes into his dayclothes. He's in that awkward stage of adolescence all smurfs hit in their late 130s- purple spots of acne dotting his face, waiting for a growth spurt that for him, would never come. His voice cracking.

"Brainy!" A voice calls. "Y'wanna come out 'n' play smurfball with us?" When Brainy hears Clumsy's voice, he's struck with... some feeling. He doesn't understand it. He rushes to the door, flings it open, runs out to see Clumsy without a second thought. Clumsy has hit his growth spurt already, tall and gangly and waiting for the rest of his body to catch up to his legs. He's not much to look at, but Brainy thinks he's the most beautiful thing in existence.

 _Oh smurf,_ Brainy thinks, except it's not smurf but another word, but Papa Smurf says swearing is unsmurfy, so he'd never repeat it out loud. _I think I like him._

Of course you like him, you'd say. You're his best friend. But Brainy was young, unsure of what "love" really was, and "like-like" was the closest he could think of without being brash. Brainy's team lost the smurfball game that day, partially because Brainy kept getting distracted and stealing glances at Clumsy, whose skin was slick with sweat from the summer heat and the exertion of the game; and partially because having Clumsy Smurf on your smurfball team automatically makes you lose.

For a while, Brainy secretly pined over Clumsy. He stumbled over himself, obvious to everyone except Clumsy; wrote books and books of love poems; doodled "B+C" in a heart in his notebooks. It faded away, though, and by the time Brainy was 180 he was just best friends with Clumsy again. Mostly, if he didn't think about it.

Clumsy, bless him, had never even known such a crush existed.


	4. Young Adults

If you asked Clumsy what Brainy reminds him of, he'd say this:

Brainy's like, like... a beehive? I ain't one fer fancy "metter-phors," but I know people, I know _Brainy,_ an' I think that makes sense.

See, I know this, from years a' bein' 'is friend. On the outside, 'e's kinda mean, honestly. 'e's got a lot to say and a lot of it ain't nice, but it ain't 'is fault. It's kinda like the wild bees. They'll sting you, see, but it's in their nature. And they hurt themselves when they do it. I know how the others treat Brainy, an' really, it's Brainy's fault most of the time? So, Brainy's hurtin' 'imself too. But 'e's sweet inside, like the honey the bees keep. I love 'im, an' 'e loves me too, even if 'e ain't good at showin' it. I can tell. An' I wish the others would be a little bit nicer.

If you asked Brainy what Clumsy reminds him of, he'd say:

Clumsy's like a rock. He's as dumb as one of the rocks he collects, and don't tell him I said this, but he's as important to me as those weird yellow rocks are to humans. Human culture is so weird, I mean-

And then he'd go on a monologue about humans, facts picked up from books and mostly-wrong assumptions, and you'd zone out because he just wouldn't shut up.

* * *

They'd left Buddy behind, to be mauled or gruesomely eaten by Azrael. Brainy leaned against Clumsy, walking slowly and wincing in pain with each step. He was slowing them down, Brainy thought. And Clumsy had been having so much fun before Brainy's disappearance bothered him...

"You go on ahead, Clumsy." Brainy said. "I don't want to keep you from your friends."

Clumsy was not, in fact, bothered. He'd rather spend this one moment with Brainy than have eternity with the rest of his friends. He'd go to any lengths for Brainy, do anything to spend time with him.

"Oh, I don't wanna be with my friends, Brainy! I'd rather be with you!" Clumsy said happily.

Brainy was shocked. Why would anysmurf care about him? For all he knew, Clumsy was just hanging around with him out of guilt and pity. He felt like he was about to cry, but held back the tears threatening to spill.

"You- you would?" He stuttered out.

"Sure!" Clumsy responded. "I- I love ya, Brainy!" Oh, Brainy thought. Oh he... he loved him? They liked each other, they cared about each other, and in his heart he knew they loved each other, but they'd never said it out loud. It felt like some kind of declaration.

"I- I-" Loved him back? No, Brainy couldn't say that. He did, but he felt so much of it that he couldn't let anyone know. "I know how you feel, Clumsy. I know how you feel."

And that was enough. Clumsy understood.


	5. Adults

Brainy had a hard time voicing his feelings sometimes, but after centuries, Clumsy could understand him. "I was just about to say that," meant, "That's a good idea, Clumsy."

"Get away from me," or any other hurled insult never meant a final goodbye, Brainy wouldn't be upset forever. What it meant was just that Brainy needed a break, to be alone for a bit. He'd always come back, though.

Which led to another point- "I'm glad you're here, Clumsy," after an argument, meant "I'm sorry." Brainy was too proud to apologize or admit he was wrong, but Clumsy could tell when he wanted to.

When Brainy repeated Clumsy's name three times- "Clumsy, Clumsy, Clumsy," sometimes that meant "I can't stay mad at you."

And the brush of fingers against Clumsy's wrist or the small of his back, a hand resting on Clumsy's shoulder, gifts of the first-edition of one of Brainy's new books, and Brainy picking Clumsy to join him in a task despite Clumsy's inclination towards failure- all of that meant "I love you, Clumsy." It meant "I love you, I always have, and I always will."

And Clumsy loved him back. It was hard, sometimes, but worth it.


End file.
